Chapter 13

Ren Amamiya chuckled, quickly recovering from his "chuunibyou" state.

"Let's take a look."

"Sefirah Castle" contains power that transcends sequences; naturally, "Sefirah Castle" can also bestow sequence powers upon individuals.

Ren Amamiya didn't remember if Klein could do it; he only remembered that Klein was able to come back to life because "Sefirah Castle" had pre-advanced the "Miracle Invoker" ability, otherwise Klein would have died long ago.

And this was while Klein was unable to use the power of "Sefirah Castle."

So, could he use the power of "Sefirah Castle"?

To feel, to control, to master.

Ren Amamiya took a deep breath, opened his hand, and a ball of flame appeared in his palm.

"It can be done, it really can be done!"

"But unfortunately, this is a temporary means similar to a gift."

"Brief, temporary use of the Sequence 7 'Magician' power."

"Moreover, I can feel that 'Sefirah Castle' is establishing a connection with me. As long as this connection gradually deepens, the sequence power I can temporarily borrow through 'Sefirah Castle' can be further improved."

"For now, I have obtained power that lets me feel at ease."

PS: New book, seeking data. ===== CHAPTER 24 =====

Nagi Sanzenin, who had returned to her villa, also saw the updated diary content.

Especially the scene of the high school student shrinking into a normal child; it made her scalp tingle.

"Isumi, under normal circumstances, could a high school student turn into a child?"

"Hmm... even a mischievous evil spirit wouldn't easily be able to do such a thing. Even if a psychic or exorcist had their power drained, they would only fall into a coma or lose their strength; they wouldn't shrink in size. Unless it’s a transformation spell, but transformation spells are high-level magic; ordinary evil spirits wouldn't know them."

Isumi Saginomiya, who was asked, also gave a serious explanation.

"Then, could an ordinary drug do it?"

"???"

Nagi’s question left Isumi Saginomiya a bit confused.

"Nagi, are you talking about ordinary medicine? Not medicine mixed with special attributes?"

"Is there such a drug?"

"Among the drugs I know, there is a very high-level one that can cause the body to shrink for a short time. However, such drugs generally don't appear on the market; most are owned by certain families."

This answer resolved the doubt in Nagi Sanzenin’s heart.

"It seems to be an extremely low-probability event."

Shinichi Kudo turned into a child, a high school detective turned into an elementary schooler, all because of a drug made by an organization?

Connecting these situations is hard to imagine.

Even knowing the truth now, she still found it hard to imagine this was reality.

"Maria, bring over the photo of the child the bodyguards took earlier. Also, did the bodyguards take any photos of Shinichi Kudo today?"

Maria didn't understand, but she still brought out all the footage the bodyguards had captured today.

The photo of Shinichi Kudo was captured as a background figure while they were tailing someone.

As for the photo of the child, it was readily available.

After taking the photo from Maria and observing it carefully, Nagi Sanzenin suddenly understood.

"It really is like this; that child is Shinichi Kudo!"

"!?"

The sudden conclusion left Isumi Saginomiya and Maria looking stunned.

Continuing to look at the two photos, the two of them finally realized.

"It’s the clothes!"

Isumi Saginomiya was very certain.

"Yes, the clothes in both photos are the same style."

Maria, looking with a professional eye, confirmed that the clothes Shinichi Kudo wore today were the same ones on the child lying on the ground.

"Hmm~ the story should be that Shinichi Kudo saw something, was hit in the head with a blunt object, and was force-fed some special poison, causing his body to shrink?"

"Correct."

"Sigh..."

Getting Nagi’s confirmation, Maria sighed.

"A story that would only appear in novels or movies has actually bled into reality."

Although she agreed with Maria, Nagi Sanzenin reminded her.

"Maria, in that person’s words, we are originally characters in a story, and our stories have been merged into reality."

"...Ah, no matter how I hear it, this world feels increasingly strange."

Listening to Nagi’s grumbling, Maria only felt her head hurting more and more.

With things having reached this point, she realized that she probably wouldn't be able to give up her job as a maid in the future.

Given the world she now knew, she couldn't rest easy letting Nagi grow up independently.

"Maria, when we knew there were evil spirits, our world was already very strange."

"...That is true."

Maria had completely given up on the abnormality of this world.

Not discovering or knowing about it in the past was likely just because it was well-hidden; not knowing didn't mean it didn't exist.

"Nagi, is there any other updated content in the diary?"

"Yes, it’s about him exposing his own name."

This topic piqued the interest of Maria and Isumi Saginomiya.

"He said he made this decision for no reason at all."

"..."

The two paused in thought, and almost in unison, they said the same thing.

"Impossible!"

Just like in the Shinomiya villa, Ai Hayasaka had the same reaction at that moment.

"Absolutely impossible!"

"A person needs a reason to make any move; that person must have had a reason for exposing himself."

"I think so too."

Kaguya Shinomiya agreed with this as well.

"I initially thought he was trying to fish, but now it looks more like a probe."

"A probe?"

Ai Hayasaka looked at Miss Kaguya, puzzled.

"Not a probe of us, but a probe of the diary itself."

Ai Hayasaka was slightly stunned, then suddenly realized.

"Is it the lucky draw?"

"I think that must be it."

Kaguya Shinomiya could almost be certain that the person’s behavior was a probe of the diary; he was testing whether the diary’s lucky draw had any connection to the diary’s content.

This made her feel a sense of "regret."

"If he tested it out this time, then he should have already obtained power similar to, or even exceeding, what I obtained."

"But if he was really just probing this time, then it means he didn't have power beyond common sense before."

"If I had taken action against him yesterday, I might have actually succeeded."

Unfortunately, she was also a very suspicious person herself.

This was the negative effect of her upbringing.

This "doubt" had caused her to miss out on the greatest benefit.

"Miss Kaguya, I think it’s better not to have such a large conflict of interest with that person."

"He is the true host of the diary. If the diary has a protection mechanism for the host, you will be the one who ends up unlucky."

Kaguya Shinomiya fell silent for a moment.

"...That’s true." ===== CHAPTER 25 =====